This book provides an in-depth ethical analysis of the right to health
care by contrasting privatized with socialized approaches. It pays
special attention to how a socialized approach can be implemented in the
context of limited resources and offers a way of integrating allocation
decisions at the policy level with institutional and hands-on
decision-making. It also discusses how the right to health care
translates into duties on part of the members of society. In an
Appendix, it suggests how, in time of need, the TRIPS Agreement allows
countries to side-step patent regulations that would otherwise raise the
cost of patented healthcare products beyond what a particular society is
able to afford. The book is of interest not only to scholars but also to
healthcare policy makers, administrators and healthcare professionals,
as well as to patients themselves.